Arducopter 2.8.1 is now in the mission planner and in the downloads area! Remember to do your MP configuration again after loading this code, since it erases your EEPROM and sets it to the new defaults.
Note: Issues with APM1 user's level feature not working are now resolved. If you installed 2.8 we highly recommend you upgrade to 2.8.1 as 430 extra bytes of RAM have been freed up which reduces the chance of memory corruption (although we haven't seen any cases of this on the APM2 at least) .
Note #2: this release has not gone out for Traditional Helicopters until they can be tested fully. Flip and Toy mode have also not been fully tested.
Improvements over 2.7.3:
- Improved ACRO mode (Leonard Hall)
- Improved stability patch to reduce "climb-on-yaw" problem (Leonard, Rob Lefebvre, Randy)
- Rate controller targets moved to body frames (yaw control now works properly when copter is inverted) (Leonard/Randy)
- Less bouncy Stabilize yaw control (Leonard)
- OpticalFlow sensor support for APM2.5 (Randy)
- DMP works again by adding "#define DMP_ENABLED ENABLED" to APM_Config.h You can also log DMP vs DCM to the dataflash by adding "#define SECONDARY_DMP_ENABLED ENABLED" (Randy)
- Watch dog added to shutdown motors if main loop feezes for 2 seconds (Randy)
- Thrust curve added to linearize pwm->thrust. Removes deadzone found above 90% throttle in most ESC/motors (Randy)
- More timing improvements (main loop is now tied to MPU6000s interrupt) (Randy)
- GPS NMEA bug fix (Alexey Kozin)
- Logging improvements (log I terms, dump all settings at head of dataflash log) (Jason)
Bug Fixes / Parameter changes:
- fixed skipping of last waypoint (Jason)
- resolved twitching when no GPS attached (Tridge)
- fixed loss of altitude if alt hold is engaged before first GPS lock (Randy/Jason)
- moved Roll-Pitch I terms from Stabilize controllers to Rate controllers
- TILT_COMPENSATION param tuned for TradHeli (Rob)
Code Cleanup:
- HAL changes for platform portability (Pat Hickey)
- Removed INSTANT_PWM (Randy)
As per usual PIDs are optimised for the 3DR/jDrones quad with 850 motors and 10" props. If you're using more powerful motors/props and are seeing bad flight behaviour in stabilize, start by turning down Rate Roll P in 25% steps.
Please note that on this release we've moved the Roll and Pitch I terms from the Stabilize controller to the Rate controller. There's some evidence that says this can lead to flips on take-off if you move the roll or pitch sticks around as you take-off so we recommend you leave these sticks in the middle until you're in the air.
Please feel free to report issues you find in the discussion below and/or add them to the issues list.
Thanks and enjoy!
Replies
Hi all. Just a quick Q regarding mission planning. What happens if I arm my quad in a spot thats not my home position? If my last command is RTL, will it go to my home point or to the point where it was armed? Thnx
Today, the weather was fine to do some mission tests.
All went great. Even the circle loiter was very precise.
Is it possible to change the speed the quad does the circle?
One small thing that didn't always work was the auto take off.
So first WP is "Take off" to 10m. I armed the quad, put the tx in "auto mode" and give some throttle. The firts time the quad barely lifted off and was just hovering a bit and jumping arround. I took over and landed, disarmed and restarted the mission. Second time it went straight up to 10m.
A couple of missions later I retried auto take of and again it wouldn't work. Even with restarting the mission and rewriting it.
It only worked whe I manualy lifted of just from the ground and switching to "auto".
Could there be a parameter that is just in between?
Issue: RTL command made my hexa to go really high and then make RTL normally.
I wondered what caused it.
Looked to parameters ALT_HOLD_RTL value was at 6000. I was wondering what caused it.
I found it - in Mission Planner/Flight Planner when you set the "default Alt" that value is set to ALT_HOLD_RTL.
ALT_HOLD_RTL controls the minimum altitude at RTL. For me this is confusing.
Correct behaviour (how it should be):
* Mission Planner / Flight Planner default alt should have the default altitude for new waypoints.
* default alt should have no affect on ALT_HOLD_RTL
So, I through the ol' APM2 (first batch production board!) in my new TBS Disco to see how she flies. Overall, it's good, but there are a few issues:
V2.8.1, APM2 with attached mediatek, TBS Disco, 880kv motors, 8x6 APC props (changing out to graupners soon), ~1.7kg AUW, 4S
Stab_P = 3.8
Rate_P = 0.085
Rate_I = 0.006
Rate_D = 0.002
1) Slight oscillation in roll ~ roughly 2Hz if I counted right. I have tried tuning down rate_p and that helps a bit, but I can't rid of all of the oscialltion. tuning it up doesn't help either - seems to worsen the effect slightly. Rate_D is pretty low as it sits.
2) Large amounts of drift. Probably due to the strange way the disco does CG. Because it's an FPV frame primarily, the CG is oriented more aft, so in forward flight it's better balanced. At least that's what I think it's supposed to do. I have never been able to completely get rid of drift in the APM no matter what the frame.
Is it still required to isolate the APM from vibrations? I know that there has been some improvements in the code for filtering, but should I try some soft isolation? Right now, I have it velcro'd to the bottom plate. I know there are vibes in the system as the gopro is still getting some jello. The prop change should help eliminate vibes at the source
Does anyone else fly an APM on the TBS Disco? If so, can you share your param file? Thanks
Dear Developers!
I think i found something in the MTK libs can you look into this?
http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/mysterious-waas-on-sequence-in-cu...
So long
Kraut Rob
So Im planning on getting the Optiflow sensor. Looks like its been in use by some for a little while and seems to be compatible with the 2.5APM. A bit matured I guess??
Curious to hear peoples experiences with it.
I have a jdrones quad frame for a while now and been upgrading firmware often. I also have a couple AR.Drones. (v1.0 and just got a v2.0)
And I have to say the AR's are an amazing piece of tech. If Arducoptor had the AR stablity if woud be a perfect platform.
How do you guys find the Optiflow sensor to be?
Does Arducopter hold steady possition when stopped?
How stable is it?
And if anyone can compare the AR.DRone to an Arducotper with the Optiflow, that would be awesome.
Attached is perfect waypoint & loiter test with my Hexa.
Thank you - APM2.0 & ArduCopter rocks!
I noticed in the lateset MP that the ch7 auto leveling option is now changed with trim leveling. When will this be implemented in the software?
Marco I see on your YouTube channel a free fall video with v2.9 in it. Can you give us a sneak peak of what's to come in v2.9 perhaps? Thnx,
I have been using APM for a long time now... 2.8.1 is the bomb...
Its reliable enough to fly at an oil refinery and do a flare stack inspection at 325 feet….. no problem..
mostly FPV with 5.8 diversity... Very nice stuff
Made enough money to get more APM, motors, ESC… ect..
Eddie Weeks
www.jetlens.com
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